A new study by Ponemon Institute has shown that 54% of participants experienced at least one data breach in the last 12 months. Of those, 19% experienced more than four!

Almost half of those who suffered a data breach reported their corporate reputation suffered. Almost a third had had to downsize due to loss of customers.

Data breaches came with a cost too — an average £91,985 ($146,240.51) increase in customer acquisition spending.

Research shows that it takes businesses on average over 9 months and £138,700 ($220,509.42) to fully recover from a data breach.

One can’t help but conclude that data breaches and cybercrime have serious consequences to corporations.

Astoundingly, 58% of those businesses who had yet to suffer a data breach didn’t believe they would suffer loss of reputation if it happened to them. As well, 70% didn’t believe they would have to spend more on customer acquisition if they became victims of a data breach.

There is definitely a discrepancy between what businesses think the repercussions of a data breach would be and what the repercussions really are. Unhappily, this dissociation from reality tends to lull businesses into complacency about their data security.

Now is definitely the time, before a data breach happens, to anticipate and forestall risks to corporate data.